By Tony Hamilton
“People are asking how bad is it at Rangers? If we did not take this action, it could have been bad. We need to get the costs down and with the greatest respect, even if we kept Kris Boyd, I do not think there would be any guarantees this season”
Sir David Murray 6th January 2009
“Anybody who is of a fair mind watching that today would see that we had no chance of winning that. Today was all about Rangers, making sure they got the decisions, same with the penalty in the cup final. If it’s not a level playing field and, if we don’t get the decisions, blatant, important decisions then what is the point of turning up? And I asked Mike McCurry that, what was the point of us turning up today?” Craig Levein 10th May 2008
“We see a different set of rules getting applied, none more so than when we’re coming here [Ibrox].” Gus MacPherson 6th March 2010
“Every team gets decisions against them, but its just honest mistakes. I got a penalty against me in the1977 Scottish Cup final, the ball hit my thigh, not my arm, and the referee gave a penalty, wrongly, and to be honest, I had forgotten about it 5 days later, I didn’t go on about it” Derek Johnstone 6th March 2010
Among Celtic supporters, and those with the ability to soberly reflect on the evidence which has presented itself so starkly, season 2009/10 will go down in Scottish football history as the season when the Establishment club became so desperate it did not matter how blatant the cheating became. It was the season that the hackneyed cliché
“an honest mistake” was taken to a new level, the last refuge of their media apologists. With Rangers very existence at stake, the £10million available from Champions League participation became the Middle East oil to their US Administration, the taxpayer bailout to their ailing banking corporation, the very oxygenated blood to their living breathing souls, and failure to acquire this vital sustenance could not be tolerated; no matter the cost. The Head of the Family would have to put the word out – the favours were to be called in.
When Sir David Murray made his statement in January 2009 that if Kris Boyd hadn’t been sold then things “could have been bad”, Rangers appeared to be heading for dire desperate straits, with the very real prospect of the grim reaper making an appearance at the marble staircase. Particularly so, when it emerged later that their chairman; the highly esteemed captain of industry that he is; had been employing a negotiating strategy seemingly devised by the Marx Brothers, revealing his hand before the Boyd deal had been formally completed, at a stroke destroying the club’s chances of commanding any sort of significant transfer fees from the hovering English Premiership and Championship vultures, no matter how much cheerleading and hype their media poodles could drum up for their prize assets. There would no Hutton or Cuellar-shaped deliverance; therefore something more extreme would have to be contemplated.
However in hindsight, writing this as I do in March 2010, watching Celtic limp towards the SPL finishing line, beset on all sides by an openly hostile media; even more openly biased referees; and a Scottish footballing establishment populated almost exclusively by individuals with formal links to Rangers, the thought enters my head that if, as Murray said, things really did get “bad”; it may not have been a harbinger of doom for Rangers as everyone had assumed, but rather for their hated rivals Celtic; as this would leave no other option than to release the hounds from hell in the form of Operation: It Doesn’t Matter How Blatant It Has to Get (OIDMHBIHTG). Craig Levein’s comments in the wake of the Mike McCurry show in May 2008 would prove a microcosm of the challenge Celtic were to be presented with in 2009/10 season.
It was following a poor 1-1 home draw with Hibs in October 2009 that Walter Smith; not for the first or last time; lost his cool completely in a press conference and let the cat out of the bag – the bank was effectively running Rangers. At that point, the Establishment club had already benefited from some customary “honest mistakes” against Hearts, Aberdeen and Celtic, with Celtic on the other hand being denied a match-winning penalty in the final minutes of a game with Dundee United by Celtic-minded referee Steve Conroy (considering a referee to be Celtic-minded not considered to be a symptom of paranoia in Scotland). Despite this, Celtic’s win at Hamilton Accies the day after that now infamous press conference, put us a point clear at the top of the SPL table. This simply would not do; the gloves would have to come off and immediately Celtic would be feeling the full force of OIDMHBIHTG.
OIDMHBIHTG called for a two-pronged attack. Firstly, escalating the cheating, primarily the refereeing decisions, but also the selective use, or more accurately; lack of use; of the completely arbitrary video review panel. Secondly there is the clean-up exercise. A compliant media which diverts attention away from topics and incidents that the Establishment bosses deem undesirable, whilst casting their light in a direction more amenable to the agenda at hand. All of this is fairly straightforward to orchestrate when you have the right people in the right posts –
SFA Chief Executive – Gordon Smith who in his autobiography spoke of trying “extra hard” against “the enemy” (i.e. Catholic schools) in his youth and who also complained of a UEFA “agenda” against Rangers in relation to sectarian and racist chanting, rather than actually countenance confronting the offenders. It was so bad even fellow apologist Jim Traynor had to ask him what part of “F*** the Pope” is not sectarian.
SFA President – George Peat the ex-Airdrie chairman, who in 2008 admitted to meeting with Rangers officials with the intention of changing the date of that season’s Scottish Cup final to give Rangers an advantage in their SPL campaign, without consulting the members clubs or the other finalists, Queen of the South. Peat was filled with indignation when his plans were not ratified and shared this quite openly with official media partner of the ‘RFC Geezanuther Extension’ campaign, the Daily Record.
SFA Head of Communications – Darryl Broadfoot, former chief football writer at the Herald and Rangers season ticket holder.
SPL Head of Communications – Greg Mailer, another Rangers supporter who was set to join the club in a PR role before the Lloyds Group froze all hiring.
SFA Head of Referee Development – Hugh Dallas, the former referee whose propensity for “honest mistakes” to Celtic’s detriment is legendary and something of a running joke in Scottish football circles. Famously awarded Italy a farcical penalty kick against Turkey in Euro 2000 as the sight of a royal blue jersey collapsing under imaginary sniper fire in the penalty area led to the inevitable outcome. Of course, this and every other mistake Dallas made, of which there were many (Dallas’s role in the “Andy Davis” debacle is conveniently forgotten), only led to him being showered with yet more praise by the Scottish media. And they made this guy Head of Scottish referees to carry on the good work.
Scottish Professional Footballers Association Chief Executive – Fraser Wishart, ex-Rangers player who can usually be relied upon to publicly defend Rangers players in times of need, but is much more reticent when the limelight is shone on their Celtic counterparts. Within hours of the latest revelations on Alan McGregor’s private life, judge, jury and executioner Wishart was condemning Celtic supporters on Radio Clyde for the attack “just for the jersey he wears”. He has been noticeably silent over the years about the racist abuse hurled at Aidan McGeady from Rangers fans.
Of course, mentioning facts such as these in relation to the aforementioned individuals, without even actually levelling any accusations of bias, is enough to bring forth a paranoiac reaction of utter derision along with the predictable parrott cry of “paranoia”. In the wonderful Orwellian world that is Scottish football, making simple statements of fact that don’t suit the party line, are enough to instigate frenzied, hysterical accusations of paranoia and malicious intent, far outweighing anything that has emanated from Celtic fans over the years.
These furious knee-jerk reactions are a clear indication that the claims of the “paranoid” indeed have much foundation. Outside the petty insular world of Scottish football, branding opponents “paranoid” or similar is a political tool universally acknowledge as a tactic deployed by those in positions of power who seek to avoid unpalatable debates for the fear of having their duplicity exposed. Whether it be US Administrations, UK Governments or the Soviet Politburo, any opponent branded “radical”, “dissident” or “extremist” may as well be arguing that the earth is flat for all the weight that his argument can carry in the face of so-called sober, informed political commentators. Constrained in this way, the Celtic paranoiac can provide massive quantities of empirical evidence to support his argument, yet the Establishment can rest in the knowledge that as far as everyone else is concerned – the “sober informed commentators” – he is simply howling at the moon.
Although this season has taken things to a new low we got a preview of what was in store for us last season, as normal levels of Establishment favouritism plumbed new depths in the closely fought title run-in. To give two examples – the media (for we have no way of knowing the criteria by which these cases are selected, surely this is no coincidence) managed to get a player (Scott McDonald) hauled up before a disciplinary review panel for a tackle that the referee saw, dealt with and in which the opponent on the receiving end (Lee Wilkie) saw no malice, publicly stating as such. In contrast, demonstrating a partisan spirit, which would have put the ‘Free Deirdrie Rashid’ campaign to shame, the media lobbied shamelessly (Darrell King in the Evening Times described the original decision as “ridiculous”) to have a player’s red card rescinded for the minor offence of kicking someone in the head (in the case of Madjid Bougherra).
Of course in each instance the media were successful in their objective. The first case illustrates aptly the cunning nature of the media’s modus operandi, for although the player (Scott McDonald) ultimately received no suspension, it made Glenn Loovens his Celtic team-mate’s position untenable in his own disciplinary case. It was inconceivable that two Celtic players could have the charges against them dismissed no matter how flimsy the prosecution case. So the media got their pound of flesh from Celtic in the end. No doubt this assertion will be dismissed as paranoia by the sober reflections of neutrals, while they nod in agreement at talk of Celtic’s Machiavellian attempts to influence referees this season.
That would be the same referees who have been responsible for a plethora of blatantly incorrect decisions to Celtic’s disadvantage and to Rangers’ benefit. Note – not “debatable”,”questionable” or “dodgy”, but blatantly incorrect of the sort where any reasonable person is left wondering, “what the hell is the referee playing at?” Unfortunately space is too limited here to go into a blow-by-blow account, suffice to say, Celtic supporters will be all too familiar with them, neutrals less so, as the majority have a mysterious habit of disappearing down an Orwellian black hole when it comes to Scottish media reportage.
Now I’m sure anyone of sound-mind could go away and find an equal number of instances where Celtic have been wrongly awarded a throw-in, corner or indirect free-kick on the halfway line to prove another unthinking stock answer of the neutral/apologist, “these things even themselves out over a season”. Such is the beauty of good propaganda and the “paranoia” parrott cry, which underpins it all.
What is significant though, is that Rangers never suffer from such slings and arrows of outrageous misfortune when it comes to referees. Sure, Scott McDonald scored a goal against them in April 2008 which was a nanometre offside and therefore should have been disallowed, and God knows did we not hear enough about it for the next 18 months? However the ridiculous, blatant, obvious decisions that Craig Levein referred to soon after that injustice, never go against them.
In November 2008, Derek Johnstone joined Walter Smith in the gutter with a piece entitled “Murphy’s Bitter” in the Evening Times in support of the dignified manager with no surname’s rant against Tom Murphy, which mysteriously name-checked the official – “Mr Murphy was quick to raise his flag here and he was quick to raise his flag at Celtic Park last season” – following a correct offside decision against Kris Boyd at Motherwell. In Scotland you see, nods, winks and hints peppered with sectarian overtones are OK if they are made by the right people and cast in the right direction; otherwise paranoia, or worse, is the instant diagnosis. Earlier in the season when a DaMarcus Beasley goal was mistakenly chalked off after a borderline offside call against Aberdeen, Smith was also casting aspersions at officials “It’s an incredible decision for a linesman who is in line with the play… We got a bad one at Tannadice earlier this season, which has been forgotten about, maybe because we don’t make that much of a fuss about it – same situation here”. OK, so you’re not making a fuss about it by ranting about it now and linking it to all sorts of decisions in the past which displeased you? Such is the prerogative of the manager of the Establishment team who was a servile media at his disposal to mould every utterance into a thing of statesmanlike dignity.
So, what to do about a string of “bad” decisions perceived to be largely favouring one team, and a manager who has been severely critical of officials on several occasions, introducing an ominous sectarian dimension to his grievances? Did the Scottish football authorities follow the 2010 model of conducting an intensely derisive media campaign to discredit every complainant as paranoid, vigorously defending the honour of referees at every opportunity, insisting they only ever make “honest mistakes” and demand action be taken against the manager in question for breaching SFA rules on criticism of referees? Of course not, this is Scotland. What they did was convene a summit at Hampden Park to discuss concerns over the standard of refereeing! You couldn’t make it up. Paranoiacs may also recall that this summit in August 2008 was in part a hangover from a lingering and rather virulent strain of Rangers paranoia from the previous season – the ‘Everybody’s-against-us-and-willnae-gee-us-another-extention’ strain.
Back in the present day, it is also true to say the current Celtic team has a number of deficiencies. However the shortcomings of the Celtic team and ostensible refereeing bias are not mutually exclusive concerns. When supporters of St Mirren, Kilmarnock and Falkirk get on their moral high-horse built on sand and manure, to preach about “Old Firm” bias, the response that they are mince anyway is not one that is considered acceptable, so why should Celtic be obliged to accept such half-baked logic?
It’s no coincidence that Conroy and Murphy (spot the connection) are the only two officials which the Scottish media have countenanced criticism of, and were prepared to put on the defensive. After Conroy displeased the Establishment club by sending off Pedro Mendes for a harmless flying kick to the abdomen followed by a careless two-footed lunge on a Kilmarnock player back in September, the Scottish media took a sudden unaccustomed interest in the following week’s Motherwell-Hibs game, which Conroy just happened to be officiating. Of course the same media showed not an iota of concern for the much more compelling case of Kilmarnock’s Manuel Pascali who also ordered off after a second yellow card for an innocuous pull an opponent’s jersey on the halfway line. In any case, headlines of “I Back Whistler Conroy – Hughes” started appearing in the redtops as hacks suddenly developed an unprecedented preoccupation with the Hibs manager’s opinion of Steve Conroy. The top story on STV’s Friday evening sports bulletin concerned the Hibs managers’ support for the “under-fire” referee as John Hughes was reported to have “no concerns over Conroy handling the match”. This followed the type of interview with Raman Barwaj usually reserved for the eve of a Cup Final.
Why Steve Conroy was “under-fire” and why Hughes should have any “concerns” were clearly understood by everyone. It’s been a long time since a Motherwell-Hibs match was the top Scottish sports story and it’ll be a long, long time until that is the case again. Of course it is no coincidence Steve Conroy did not come “under fire” after the ridiculous decision not to award a penalty to Celtic against Dundee United on September 12th. The message to Conroy is clear – “We’re watching you. If you’re going to make a mistake, you damn well better make sure that mistake benefits the Establishment team or there will be repercussions.”
This is the message for which Scottish football journalists are in a large part responsible. A strange cohort of Celtic, Hearts, St Mirren, Dundee United, Motherwell, St Johnstone, Aberdeen, Clyde, Airdrie United and Shettleston Juniors supporters with not a Rangers fan in sight. No Scottish football journalist; that group who take great pride in describing themselves in self-aggrandising pieces as “fans with typewriters”, is a supporter of Glasgow Rangers; the most popular and best supported team in the country (in terms of those who identify themselves as fans of that club, if not in other aspects such as behaviour). It is almost inconceivable to the paranoiac that this could genuinely be the case given that it effectively turns the demographic of the wider Scottish football fan completely on its head. However, that is only the view of the paranoiac, and instead we are reassured by those of sound mind that the implausible reality presented to us, is indeed the truth, and that our next dose of soma is now due.
So I have written at length about the various pillars, which enthusiastically rally, to the cause of Scotland’s Establishment club, but what can be done to improve if not redress the situation? Inspiration may be drawn from one Fergus McCann. McCann’s arrival in 1994 posed a formidable threat to the Rangers-dominated order of Scottish football; therefore the usual tactics were employed. Along with the obligatory paranoia, he was derided as a mean, penny-pinching, out of touch, pedantic, bully. However the reason for this treatment stretched beyond the usual insular Scottish jaundiced agendas and self-serving bias. This guy had them rattled. McCann was a self-made man who had returned to Scotland from a North American litigious culture and had not the slightest reservation about employing legal routes to achieve his and the club’s goals.
And of course he got us our smoking gun moment in court via the Jorge Cadete ‘affair’, an achievement for which alone he deserves a statue erected to him outside Celtic Park. Despite three years of derision and paranoia jibes from the apologist media; in a court of law; it was proven that the SFA had cheated Celtic. This did not actually come from the judgement of the court, as the SFA resorted to the standard tactic of any institution guilty of corruption, blame it all on one “rogue” person of evil spirit acting alone to serve their own agenda, independent of the organisation. This simply doesn’t wash. It is inconceivable that Jim Farry could have lasted three years obstructing and obfuscating, with the full support of the media in such a case where Rangers were the injured party. Farry was able to operate within a culture amenable to progressing an agenda against Celtic and to blame everything on one individual; however culpable he clearly was; is utterly mendacious.
So we have to get them in court for another smoking gun moment. Proving deliberate cheating by a referee would be an extremely difficult undertaking, but not impossible, as demonstrated in German and Italian football in 2005 and 2006 (Italian and German referees being made of lesser moral fibre than our altruistic Scottish referees of course). A more realistic point of attack is the media who prop up the whole rotten institution with their daily lies and agendas. Referees can operate as they do because they know they are immune from criticism in the media when their “honest mistakes” encumber Celtic. In contrast, anything that is even remotely perceived to have disadvantaged Rangers (see Mendes sending off) is pounced upon; the official concerned is the subject of jibes and innuendo, and is the subject of a level of media scrutiny worthy of the Nuremberg Trials. Not difficult then, to see how one or two or ten decision may go against Celtic and go favour of Rangers via “honest mistakes”.
With the current media lobby system of kow-towing to the Establishment club we will probably never know the true level of corruption within Scottish refereeing ranks. The possibility of bias in favour of Rangers and against Celtic will simply not be investigated by the Scottish media. For whatever reason it is an explanation of official “mistakes” that they will not consider. Several Scottish football “experts” have said publicly that if we are going to start questioning the integrity of Scottish referees then we might as well take the ball home and give up. A bizarre logic that in essence says we would rather continue to play the game without knowing whether or not it is a corrupt charade. The fourth estate in Scotland should have the balls to do something about it.
It wouldn’t be too hard an undertaking for a journalist of any ability to investigate. Circumstantial evidence abounds. For example the playing the Ibrox theme tune ‘Simply the Best’ by a certain minister in his church services, the presence of certain officials on Rangers Supporters Buses or at Orange Walks, the recently retired referee and his guest slot down the Lodge, and of course one in particular on the supporter’s club after dinner speaking circuit, with his legendary boasts never to have refereed a game which Rangers lost. All of this is well known anecdotally to most Scottish football fans, but no Scottish football journalist has considered this an appropriate line of enquiry, just as they all to a man and woman, failed to investigate the Jorge Cadete case, a case where the volume of documentary evidence that existed meant that the defence case collapsed completely upon the most cursory of legal preliminaries. Any diligent journalist could have broken the Cadete/Farry story, but I suppose “honest mistakes” are even more common among the Scottish media as among referees. Fergus had to get his lawyer involved to get the job done.
The Establishment is always going to prevail under this media model; the only way to change things is to revise the model. Sites like Celtic Underground, Celtic Quick News, Kerrydale Street, ‘Mon the Hoops, E-Tims and a plethora of others, are eroding the Old Media’s influence via the Internet. You just need to ask your average Celtic fan for their views on the Scottish press and media and you don’t have to go too far to find total contempt. The more forums, blogs, podcasts and other fan generated media that becomes available, then the less influence the poodles in the Laptop Loyal will have setting the framework of the debate. Eventually when the printed media dies, or evolves into a more web-based form, it will have to compete with these fan generated sources and somewhere down the line they’ll end up on the edge of the of the debate and the ones who persist in acting as nothing more than mouthpieces for the views and interests of Rangers FC will take over the mantle of the lunatic fringe, because the fans will be setting the parameters themselves. When this day comes, referees will no longer be free to skip around Ibrox dishing out yellow and red cards to Celtic players with impunity for imagined headbutts, scoring a goal in front of the Copland Road Stand or for being ginger and “niggly”.
My message to the Celtic Family is this – don’t buy the Daily Record, don’t buy the Sun, don’t phone Radio Snide, don’t phone Fake Radio, don’t engage with them, don’t give them the oxygen that keeps the beast breathing and fighting; and make no mistake; this beast wants to put a hose in your mouth and turn the ignition on, this beast wants to squeeze every last ounce of breath from you. You wouldn’t buy the Rangers News or subscribe to Rangers TV, so why the hell would you subscribe to them under another guise? Because if you are buying and reading these newspapers and contributing to these radio phone-in shams, that is exactly what you are doing. We have to force them out of business, or at least to a place where the writing is on the wall for them.
Maybe when that day comes, we’ll see the dawn of Operation: We’ve Got No Choice But to Give Them a Level Playing Field.
Tony Hamilton has been chronicling Celtic’s fraught relationship with the Scottish media for over eight years. This culminated recently in the publication of his work in the form of Celtic Paranoia: The Laptop Loyal Diaries.
This book exposes and analyses the endemic bias against the club within the Scottish media in scathing and entertaining fashion. Tony has a wide range of sporting interests and writes regularly for the Celtic fanzine Not the View and the website Celtic Underground. In 2001 he was crowned UK Football Trivia Champion after a BT sponsored event hosted by Alan Hansen defeating 29 other regional champions from around Britain. Tony’s writing on the subject continues with his blog, ironically titled ‘Celtic Paranoia’ [http://celticparanoia.blogspot.com], the most comprehensive and humorous site devoted to ridiculing the Scottish football media and their transparent pro-Rangers/anti-Celtic agenda.
Celtic Paranoia: The Laptop Loyal Diaries can be purchased here. [http://www.lulu.com/content/6813654]
Craig Blair
Its all gone quiet about the refs…
Cant wait till the tims appoint lennon full time and lawell makes him sign any diddy from asia and that portugese no mark from hearts.
Peter lawell picks your team.
March 28, 2010 at 7:50 pm
John Bulloch
Come on Phil – I can’t wait to hear your excuses – I mean reasons for last nights sham – were the referee and linesmen all buddies? did they chip in with a few passes and ignore a few offsides? give them a few penalties to help them on their way? deny celtic a few penalties to stifle their creative flair?
Funny how when celtic appeal a red card (dutch centre half – i can’t even remember his name he’s so pish) – it takes the SFA about 6 months to review it and reject it – but when Rangers appeal – it’s done and dusted and rejected in minutes…yeah – theres obviously a conspiracy…
lmfao – ye’s are pish and ye’s know it
Mowbray MUST stay
53 and counting – we welcome the chase
March 25, 2010 at 5:17 am
Neil
Interesting reading. It would be good to see a comparison over a longer period of time – 20-30 years – to give a fair reflection. I think it was Gerry above suggested the Loughborough Uni. Why not? Having the facts investigated by an independant body can only be advantageous.
March 20, 2010 at 11:02 am
Ian Gracey
Phil Mac Giolla Bhain has managed to lose any little glimmer of respect he had in the media world by allowing this nonsense on his blog. Not only is the majority of what Tony hamilton has written absolute nonsense, its also highly embarrassing to Scottish football that clowns like Hamilton are given a platform to spout their bile.
I feel sorry for Tony Hamilton, life can be tough for everybody at times. But it must be an awful feeling that the whole world is against you all the time.
I’m also interested to hear how Gordon Smith, George Peat, Daryl Broadfoot, Greig Mailer and Fraser Wishart have managed to form some sort of Scottish mafia without anybody apart from Mr Hamilton noticing. Where were they when we Rangers had a ridiculous amount of games in a very short period of time, due to bad weather and an ex celtic player dying and a celtic squad that didn’t know him mourning for 2 weeks!! Where were they when Celtic won league cup, where were they when celtic won the league 2 years on the trot. If they are the protectors of all things Rangers then they dissapoint me.
Am i correct in assuming the only way to make the likes of Hamilton happy is that celtic win the league this season and last, ultimately what he is looking for is not fairness but quite the opposite. He’s wanting somebody to make sure that the big bad Rangers never win anything.
Personally i blame the schooling, too much time spent getting brain washed about religion. Not enough time learning social skills or being truely educated.
March 18, 2010 at 5:06 am
George
Since lists are in vogue let’s look at just some of the decisions that have gone against Rangers this season.
Harsh sending-off of Kevin Thomson at Tynecastle. Hearts’ goal offside in the same game.
Dodgy sending-off of Bougherra at Motherwell.
Dodgy penalty against Bougherra at Motherwell.
Harsh sending-off of Mendes at Kilmarnock.
Dodgy sending-off of Kenny Miller against Dundee United.
Laughable penalty given to Hamilton in the first Cup game.
In the first Old Firm game Scott McDonald elbowed both Stevie Smith and Whittaker at Ibrox and got no cards. In the same game Novo was pushed right in front of an open goal – should have been a penalty for us and a red card for Celtic but nothing. Then McDonald (yet again) elbowed Weir at Parkhead and got no card….
St Mirren players got off with elbowing various of our players in recent games at St Mirren Park e.g. Thomson elbowed McCulloch twice.
In the last game at Motherwell Gers should have had a penalty when Boyd was pushed over, Reynolds should have had a red card for putting the boot into Lafferty after the ball was gone, the free-kick which gave them their goal wasn’t a foul, and Lasley should have had two yellow cards for his bad fouls on Davis and McCulloch.
Against Hibs at Ibrox, Gers should have had a penalty in the first half when Weir was fouled. And Liam Miller should have been sent off for kicking McCulloch after the ball was gone but got no card.
In the Cup replay against St Mirren at Ibrox, Innes elbowed Weir in the face late in the game and got no card.
Dodgy sending-off of Kenny Miller against Dundee United. Referee declines to send it to the appeal panel (just before January’s Old Firm game).
Last Old Firm game. N’Guemo repeatedly fouls and gets no yellow card. Finally he commits a horrible foul on Boyd which could well have been a red card on its own and gets a yellow card.
And so on. Every team gets bad or dubious decisions against them.
I won’t go through every error above but I have to correct one, the claim that ‘January 2010 – Steve Conroy admits to making an “honest mistake” by disallowing Fortune’s “goal”’. Steve Conroy made no such “admission”. Indeed the “goal” was rightly disallowed as Fortune’s arm knocked aside McGregor’s arm before he put the ball in. You can find the relevant footage on YouTube.
All fans like to whinge about referees but Celtic fans take it to a new level. Too many Celtic fans suffer from a paranoia which is a form of sectarianism.
Also can you please remove the sectarian insult “Huns” which is used above.
March 17, 2010 at 3:43 pm
Tony H
Comment about schooling not worthy of response. Needless to say any “brainwashing” only served to help me along the road to atheism with no interest in the two bald men fighting over a comb arguments between different factions of Christianity or any other religion.
Responses from Rangers fans re referee decisions follow the familiar spoilt child syndrome.
Firstly the complaints about no season extension in 2008. Incorrect. The season WAS extended, however understandable that Rangers fans should forget this as the media seem happy to let this myth linger. Therefore in the mind of the spoilt child and bully, the receipt of assistance afforded to no other team becomes a glaring injustice because the assistance was not full compliance with his demands.
Other things conveniently forgotten in the response – the frivolous cancellation of your own fixture with the mighty Gretna, a luxury denied Aberdeen and one that Celtic showed no interest in, and then failing to reschedule this and Scottish Cup replays at the first available opportunity. You would almost think Rangers had planned on securing an extension at an early stage.
Then there is the paranoia surrounding Phil O’Donnell’s death. Not worth dignifying with a response.
Let’s take some of the decisions listed
‘Harsh sending off of Kevin Thomson’ was nothing of the sort, a leg-breaking tackle with malice which fortunately didn’t make contact.
‘Dodgy penalty Bougherra at Motherwell’ was a clear foul.
‘Dodgy sending off of Bougherra at Motherwell’ Bougherra compounded the foul which denied a clear goalscoring opportunity by ranting and raving at the ref and thrusting his finger in his face. Always likely to result in a red card, for players of other teams anyway.
‘Harsh sending off of Mendes’ Only a Rangers supporter would consider a yellow card for kicking someone in the stomach and another yellow for a two footed lunge at an opponent as harsh. Especially when you’re used to players being let off by the review panel for kicking opponents in the head.
‘Laughable penalty at Hamilton’ This comment defies belief unless the comment referred to the one awarded to Rangers for Lafferty kicking the ball off a prostrate Accies defender’s arm at point blank range
Kenny Miller’s sending off against Dundee United is mentioned twice in a desperate attempt to dredge up evidence. I happen to agree that the call was marginal but you are wrong about the review panel. The incident was reviewed and the appeal thrown out prompting Sir Walter to question the impartiality of a system that relies on referees to re-examine their own judgement.
Funnily enough the press unanimously thought this was sensible comment, however when Aiden McGeady said the exact same thing after the Scott Brown sending off the media launched into the customary hysterics about paranoia.
In any case the article was about PROVEN BLATANTLY INCORRECT decisions, not “Dodgy”,”Harsh” or “a wee bit no fair”
March 20, 2010 at 5:37 am
Snake Plissken
Oh what a surprise. We get the usual cat calls and magical incantation words like – Paranoia, deflection and all other excuses for what has been a shockingly bad season of unfathomable errors by our referees and game’s hierarchy. Do Rangers fans actually think that people have no clear grievances against these people who run and arbitrate the game? As Tony hamilton points out, the hullabaloo created by the Rangers manager and aided by the media is never described as paranoia or the rantings of a deranged man, instead they sit laughing and joking with him or worse hide and refrain from asking tough questions in the wake of a horsing from the village team from Romania assembled for a tenth of the price of his 20 – 30 million pound squad (oh and they say Rangers haven’t spent any money – they have the most expensive squad in the league in terms of transfer fees paid out at a time when they are in financial difficulty – yet more sychophantic hero worship – Oh if only some proper analysis of their words and mantras were actually to be done).
I myself have collated all the major decisions this season going for and against both the teams and you can read them at your leisure. Read them and then answer in your heart the followin questions:
How many is that each way?
Who got the most benefit?
Which team has a reason to be angry?
How many of these decisions were correct?
You will see that all Celtic supporters have a reason to be extremely unhappy with the officals and indeed the video review panel and for Rangers fans to shout – rubbish what about fir park last season (where the ball was kicked into the net AFTER the whistle was blown and therefore by any intelligent person’s reasoning – not a goal) – You have no leg to stand on gentlemen. If you want to debate 2008, bring it on, again if the media had reported on these things in a balanced way perhaps you would not be so quick to shout foul.
So for all those Rangers fans and indeed the celtic fans who want to confirm what they have been watching all season (apart from dreadful football from the team), here is my assembled list. See for yourself factual occurences and judge for youself if people have a gripe.
Decisions going for Celtic this season.
Celtic vs Hearts 2-1 Hearts claim for a penalty turned down
Rangers vs Celtic
1 penalty given and scored
1 possible push in the back on Novo – Nothing given – it was also handball so could have been his second yellow
Dundee United vs Celtic – 1 penalty given and scored – correct decision.
Falkirk vs Celtic – 1 penalty given and missed
Motherwell vs Celtic – 1 penalty given and missed
Celtic vs Hamilton – Disallowed Hamilton goal – replays show handball
Celtic vs Rangers – tussle between McDonald and Weir – nothing given
St Johnstone vs Celtic – Player red carded for a trip on Fortune
Hamilton vs Celtic – One penalty given – missed
Penalty given against Dunfermline – correct call but why no red card?
No second yellow for Paul Caddis in same game
Loovens controls the ball with a hand before scoring vs Hearts
Fortune offside for his goal in Celtic Hearts game
Odea pushes Aberdeen player – No penalty
Hinkel tackle on Edu – possible penalty ref has a clear view but neither player has control of the ball so they could have fouled each other.
Nguemo – bad tackle on Boyd but not deliberate like the Lafferty one. Could have been Red.
Kimarnock vs Celtic – Rasmussen elbows Wright but with his back to the player after having his shirt pulled – missed by the ref.
For = 17 major decisions
Against
Hibs vs Celtic – McGeady sent off for diving
Celtic vs Dundee United – 1 disallowed goal which looked onside and one penalty not given in the last minute (by Steve Conroy) for clear handball – later Levein admits the player was disappointed not to have caught it.
Rangers vs Celtic
2 stonewall penalty claims turned down both involving Weir – No cards – later admitted by the ref
Lafferty assaults McManus and Zhi – No cards right in front of the ref
Whittaker has his hands round McDonald’s throat for a free kick – No penalty given
Weir studs first tackle on McDonald into his knee – NO cards and no video review panel for Weir whereas McDonald was subject to one in an incident where the referee had dealt with it last season.
2 Celtic players booked for diving when neither was a dive, one as the ref later admitted was a penalty and the other – Wilson was fouled, there was contact and so it was either not a penalty or it was but a dive is when there is no contact.
Falrkirk vs Celtic 3-3 – In the last minute – Disallowed goal to make it 4-3 – Clearly onside.
Motherwell 2 Celtic 3 – ref allows 2 penalty claims to go (and both were clear cut fouls and handballs) before giving a penalty
At 3-2 he adds extra minutes when Motherwell are on the attack and then when the ball breaks to Fortune, clean through on goal, he blows for full time – goal difference issue?
Hearts 2 Celtic 1 – Caldwell ordered off and penalty given – correct decision
Celtic vs Rangers
1 Disallowed goal – ref appeared to give it and then changed his mind (you can’t do that as it is against the rules)
Lafferty tackle – only a yellow when all and sundry say it is red.
McGregor assaults McDonald off the ball ( missed by the ref but no video review panel)
Weir not booked for continually pointing his finger in the refs face and pulling jerseys.
Celtic vs Falkirk – No foul on McManus at Falkirk goal.
No penalty given for foul on Fortune – Eddie May admits it was
Artur Boruc penalised for handling outside the area when replays show he is clearly inside the area. The linesman is in line 100% and has a clear view ( a big white 18 yards line)
Hamilton vs Celtic – Rasmussen booked for leaving the field of play after scoring – only correct in Scotland.
St Johnstone vs Celtic – Penalty ST Johnstone – clumsy but correct
Celtic vs Hibs – Ki fouled for the Hibs goal – replays show the ref is correct.
Hibs’ winning goal looks offside – replays show the linesman is correct.
THAT Dunfermline penalty
McGeady given a yellow for kicking the ball away vs Hearts – correct decision technically
McGeady booked for kicking the ball away vs Aberdeen technically correct again but the same referee does not give a second yellow to MacLean of Aberdeen which would mean red.
Zander Diamond kicks Fortune in the Chest in the box – free kick Aberdeen but it technically should be a penalty
Aberdeen Penalty for handball – correct decision
Darren Odea – Second Yellow card – correct decision but the referee fails to send off player for Aberdeen for kicking the ball away
Celtic vs Dundee United – Robbie keane scores and gets booked by the referee for leaving the field of play. Only in Scotland and only against celtic players so it would seem.
Same match Sean Dillion wrestles Scott Brown to the deck and kicks out at him while he is on the deck – No referee action but in fairness the ref did not see it – so where was the linesman? It was clearly in line with him – did he see it or choose to ignore it. This should have been penalty Celtic and second yellow for Dillon. 2- 0 first half and playing 10 men. NO video review panel called AGAIN.
Robbie Keane scores a second goal – deemed offside – Not offside – No BBC replays unlike a Zander Diamond goal 2 years ago which was played over and over. I wonder why?
Rangers vs Celtic – Scott Brown sent off. An extremely poor decision. The ref was 40 yards away and had his hand in his pocket right away.
David Weir kicks Fortune off the ball behind the refs back (watch it on the replay) – no video review panel.
Bougherra not sent off for persistent fouling – he hits the shot that leads to the winner – he had 7 fouls and appears to know he is not getting an early bath with his crass winking to the bench.
Bougherra appears to foul Kamara in the box – No penalty
Handball Miller – No booking – Edu scores from the mele but again like at fir Park the whistle had already been blown for handball – No Goal
Kevin Thomson – not booked for persistant fouling and one particular foul at the end of the game when he and Papac booted into Kamara.
Fortune Handball – yellow but correct
Falkirk vs Celtic – Keane given offside on a hattrick when he is 5 yards behind Samaras and the linesman is 5 yards behind him. Usain Bolt jokes clearly hvae some credence.
Kilmarnock vs Celtic – Killie player stamps on Rasmussen – linesman is 5 yards away. Ref gives nothing but did see the incident. The same player later gets booked so it should be red.
Against – 46 – how many were actually correct?
Rangers
For
Penalty at Tyncastle with the game at 1-1 – any foul was outside the box – a clear big break in a game where Hearts had a more clearcut claim ignored by Craig Thomson.
Kilmarnock player red carded in 0-0 draw – correct decision
Rangers vs Aberdeen – McCulloch elbows an Aberdeen player off the ball – No video review panel called. Footage is available.
Rangers vs Celtic – 11 decsions already highlighted.
Dundee United vs Rangers (abandoned game) – Davis offside for goal
Dundee United vs Rangers – No penalty given to United at 0-0 when Papac pushed Daly about to shoot – no pen and no red card.
McCulloch Knees DU player in the back of the head – no card
Rangers vs St Johnstone – penalty
Hamilton in the cup – penalty for nothing. The boy could not move and someone rattles the ball off him.
Rangers vs Hearts – Hearts player sent off for kicking the ball away. Technically correct but rarely enforced.
Motherwell vs Rangers – Motherwell legit goal chalked off for ?
Boyd Elbows Zemama in the face – only a yellow for obstruction yet the free kick is directly taken – strange decision given that many commentators state at the time Boyd misses the old firm game and directly after the match it appears he isn’t thanks to the 1 point yellow for obstruction – does this even exist? I would like to know.
Whittaker scores vs Hibs, runs into the crowd/from the field of play – no booking
Miller goes down under no challenge – penalty to Rangers.
Rangers vs Celtic – Brown ordered off
Bougherra stays on for persistant fouling, winks at the bench, maybe they know something we don‘t and he has the shot that leads to the winner.
Miller not booked for handball while Fortune is
Kevin Thomson can foul at will – no bookings – even after kicking into Kamara before the Rangers’ winner
Rangers vs St Mirren – Higdon bullies Weir out of the ball and Weir pulls his shirt – free kick and no card – It should be red – goalscoring opportunity as McGregor has made the save. Again the rules are not enforced where Rangers are concerned.
Rangers get a free kick for nothing and get the equaliser – St Mirren fans incensed.
Not ONE but TWO penalties given to Rangers against Dundee United – one the keeper makes a challenge and gets the ball and the other a dive.
McGregor stamps on an opponent but the referee warns the United player – video review panel????
Decisions for – 33 – how many were really correct?
Against
Thomson sent off at Tyncastle – correct decision first tackle or not, it was poor.
Bougherra sent off(2nd yellow) at Motherwell – correct decsion and penalty given and missed.
Mendes sent off for 2 bookables – Correct decsion
Manager sent to the stand for foul mouthed abuse – Correct decsion
Rangers vs Celtic – 3 decsions given against Rangers ( all correct)
Miller red carded against United for Violent conduct – correct decsion despite pathetic attempts to change the rules on red cards for the second season running.
1 penalty given to Hamilton accies in recent cup match – Soft decision
Rangers vs Celtic – Nguemo bad tackle on Boyd but he was going for the ball not the man
Rangers claim penalty against Hinkel – not given, ref had a good view but neither player has control of the ball and as Edu was behind Hinkel – it seems unlikely that it was a clear penalty
You cannot count Edu’s disallowed goal because the whistle had already gone and it is therefore not a goal
13 against – mostly all correct.
So Celtic get 17 for and 46 against
Rangers get 33 for and 14 against.
You may not agree with all of these but those are the big calls this season and they are undoubtedly anomalous so make of them what you will.
March 16, 2010 at 3:26 pm
Tony Hamilton
Thanks for the nice comments, as for the critical ones, these were entirely predictable, Rangers fans are not going to suddenly hold their hands up to this.
I referred to the comparing of apples and oranges in the article, and here it is again, I refer to the Morbid chap who complained of the blatant penalty not given at Ibrox. I have to assume he means the one where Hinkel made a legitimate challenge on Edu which was of the variety that a referee may give if he is having an off day (more often than not to Rangers at Ibrox). An example even more ironic when you consider Sir Walter initially expressed his satisfaction with the refereeing performance before making an apparent u-turn to rail against this injustice with no-one in the media noticing the glaring inconsistency
This is the same manager who thinks all the other clubs should be “good enough to deal with it” without expanding on exactly what “it” is, although I think we can all make an educated guess.
It speaks volumes that Rangers fans are left scrambling around and holding such a pathetic offering up as some sort of grave injustice which “balances out” about a dozen of the most blatantly incorrect decisions which have impeded Celtic or benefited Rangers.
In 2008/9 season there were many decision which went against Celtic but as I refer to the in the article, the media for some reason known only to themselves refused to drag these kicking and screaming into the limelight. To give two examples – Samaras had a goal wrongly disallowed against Aberdeen in the “Zander Diamond” game which received no attenion, and Celtic had a goal wrongly disallowed against Hibs at a time when goal difference was potentially going to be crucial. Just two incidents which were ignored by the media as they pander to their chosen cohorts.
We could go on all day and all night comparing decisions but I was under no illusion any Rangers supporter or the majority of neutrals will agree.
So to get away from the comparision of apples and oranges in the form of scrambling around comparing corner kicks, free-kicks and challenges in the box where there was a wee bit of contact, with blatantly incorrect decisions in the form of goals wrongly disallowed (Fortune, Ross Forbes), players wrongly sent off (Brown) and blatant penalties not given (2 for Celtic @ Ibrox, Darren Dodds “He should have caught it” save @ Celtic Park) – consider this,
October 2009 – Craig Thomson admits to making an “honest mistake” by failing to award a penalty to Celtic (should have been 2 but never mind)
January 2010 – Steve Conroy admits to making an “honest mistake” by disallowing Fortune’s “goal” (we’ll gloss over the Lafferty assault)
February 2010 – Dougie McDonald doesn’t admit to making an honest mistake by sending off Scott Brown much to the bemusement of everyone outside Rangers and the SFA including an ex-Premiership referee (with suspiciously Irish sounding name).
All this season.
When was the last time a referee was forced to admit a BLATANT error to Celtic’s benefit in a game against Rangers?
As far as the SFA’s interests, it’s in the SFA’s interests to prevent Rangers going bust. It just also happens to be a happy coincidence that a lot of Rangers minded individuals have run the show at the SFA over the years, and when this is not the case, they have simply been too intimidated by the prospect of upsetting Rangers.
See Burley G, for what happens when you upset the Establishment club. Yes the results were not good enough in the end but the knives were out as soon as Lee McCulloch decided he was the kind of patriot who wouldn’t play for Scotland because he didn’t like the manager, on the eve of Burley’s first competitive game.
Anyway, I’m pleased at the complimentary comments of Celtic supporters and unsurprised at the scorn from others. Predictable knee-jerk unthinking response.
March 16, 2010 at 3:19 pm
danny mitchell
my comment is, playing each team 4times or 6 to me is a monkeye
league, run by a bunch of has beens. I WOULD LOVE THAT WE NEVER PLAY rangers again. The quickerwe leave scotland the better, let the rest fend for themself. I know for sure a lot of Celtic supporters feel the same way, my honest opinion is for what it is worth, remember the old saying [watch your back BIG brother is wathing you]
March 16, 2010 at 2:31 pm
James
Somebody above asked what the SFA would gain by Rearrangers winning the league? I ask any fan of any club what they would gain if their team won a league? It aint rocket science matey and the author above has shown how each of the sfa employees have strong links to ibrox and furthermore if you think Celtic had outrageous decisions two years ago,I would like to debate with you on them!
March 16, 2010 at 1:37 pm
Badger1888
Why should we fuel a biased and corrupt SFA/Media. It is not in the Daily Hun, Radio Clyde or Real radios interest to talk about the facts of biased officials in this country. They are hugely scared that the listening and sale figures will drop. They state that the majority of Good Celtic fans do not believe in a bias against against them. The majority of my friends are Celtic fans and they are under no illusion that Rangers have been pulled from the fire this year. This can’t go on for much longer. Let’s get behind Mr. Bhain and boycott this daily drivel we force fed.
March 16, 2010 at 10:43 am
Alba
I was under the impression that the campaigning journalist and literary dissident was against sectarianism in all its forms. Yet he appears comfortable with the use of the sectarian term ‘Hun’ on his blog.
This is not about paranoia, this is about bitter and twisted people. Celtic Football Club are simply riddled with them from top to bottom. They are the most ungarcious club ever – whenever they win it is a greater achievement than anyone else. Whenever they lose it is never down to the other team being better, they always have an excuse.
Their Board are failures who this year hid behind anonymity.
Their manager is aa failure who is looking for excuses
Their very expensive loan signing has resulted in crowds falling since he came and the club falling further behind Rangers.
Their support are failures who latch onto any excuse and who can’t even observe a minute’s silence.
Failure and lack of honour leading to a compulsion to deflect and deny – the motto of celtic FC.
March 16, 2010 at 10:31 am
Georgie Bhoy
Great piece, well written and above all accurate. What a sad reflection of Scottish football in the C21st that fairness cannot be taken for granted. Fairness not favouritism should be every Celtic (and genuine football supporters) slogan. How many ‘honest mistakes’ have gona against Rangers this season?
March 16, 2010 at 9:34 am
Stewart K
What utter drivel
Does anyone actually pay you for this crap.
Just more paranoid nonsense from the poor oppressed. Recently Billy McNeil claimed bias had been going on “for fifty years”.
In this timeframe Celtic actually won more league titles than Rangers so the bias obviously didnt work eh.
Celtic – always cheated, never fairly defeated since 1888.
March 16, 2010 at 8:34 am
gerry
somoe of you guys need to familiarise yoursleves with the law of large numbers
March 16, 2010 at 8:29 am
sir drinksalot
hmm, i’d like to know your honest opinion on the decisions of the season preceding the last. 2008/2009 when, it would appear, that many ’soft’ decisions went they way of celtc.
Also to squire- you won the three seasons previous to the last one and you were only beaten on the final day of last season- i wouldn’t say you had no chance of winning?
March 16, 2010 at 7:31 am
gerry
Great article TH. Do you think independently commissioned researched undertaken by an authoritative and unquestionable source (eg Loughborough University Sports Research Centre) wold have an impact? At worst the club could commission it and ask other involved parties- The Huns, 4th Estate, SFA, SPL, etc to give theri input in setting the terms of reference. If they refuse go ahead anyway.
March 16, 2010 at 5:17 am
laughing
From operation fire sale, operation rangers going bust and now to operation lets blame the refs.
celtic are a crap football team.
lawells hoodwinked you lads, big time.
March 16, 2010 at 12:24 am
morbid joe
complete and utter drivel, the accusations you are making are completely absurd. This is Scottish Football we are talking about I think you are getting carried away. According to you this seems to be the biggest scandal the world has seen since America invaded Iraq. You really need to get a hold of yourself as it all sounds rather pathetic I am afraid.
Sadly for every decision you quote the same has probably happened to the team on the other side of your city, not to mention st mirren, motherwell etc. I know from playing myself that sometimes you feel the whole world is against you due to blatant mistakes from the ref. I can remember numerous injustices…I remember playing overseas when the other team hit a penalty off 2 posts and the kicker scored a rebound after no one else had touched it and the ref let it stand. These things happen I:m afraid and if you cant see that then you obviously havent watched alot of football in your life. Refs have made horrendous mistakes down the years its just now that we scrutinze more due to TV, By the way You failed to mention rangers blatant second half penalty not given in the last old firm game which goes somewayt to disprove your somewhat deluded views on recent events. Rangers and Celtic are the BIG teams….all smaller teams complain about not getting decisions at both parkehead and Ibrox. The homecrowd sometimes pressure the referees and they make a mistake. Invariably however these teams would have been beat anyway as rangers and celtic are usually better. Rafa benitex is doing the same at liverpool at the moment ie blaming everybody else for the teams deficiencies and it is clear you are doing the same. Where was the moaning when Celtic won the league 3 in a row recently. This attitude is extremely unmanly and feeble. People like yourself are making Celtic look like a laughing stock around the world I:m afraid.
Final thought….WHAT do the SFA benefit by Rangers winning the league????? Absolutely nothing they don:t care who wins it!! Everybody in Scotland has got several grievances with the incompetent SFA not only the poor victimized throw the dummy out of the pram Glasgow Celtic!!
March 15, 2010 at 8:42 pm
squire
Excellent article, puts a logical/intellectual framework on the numerous bitches and gripes I have had all season. Watching the huns game yesterday I just gave up at the award of their 2nd “soft” “penalty” – whits the point of playing if there is no chance of winning? Just ordered the book too – how about getting the diary back in the NTV – its not the same when its missing.
March 15, 2010 at 1:13 pm
leo mc cann
great article there. i posted a link on the boy wh runs the celtic fair refeering page on facebook if that is ok. keep them coming. leo.
March 15, 2010 at 11:18 am
stephen stelmaszuk
Thanks for the link just ordered the book keep up the good work.
March 15, 2010 at 9:55 am